the renter generation

Dallas declared a top-20 hotspot for Gen Z renters in new report

The overwhelming majority of Dallas Gen Zers are renters.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Apartment Locators

A new report has confirmed what most Dallas-based Gen Zers already know: Homeownership rates aren’t looking good for the Zoomer generation. In fact, over 88 percent of all Gen Zers in Dallas-Fort Worth are renters, not homeowners, according to a new Rentcafe study.

The housing report analyzed the U.S. hotspots where Gen Zers (individuals born between 1997 and 2012) are renting versus buying their homes. Using homeownership and renting data across 97 U.S. metros, RentCafe’s analysts determined which cities have had the biggest gains in Gen Z renters and homeowners from 2018-2023.

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 16 in the national comparison of metros where nearly all Gen Z individuals rent. The study’s findings show there were 189,461 Gen Z households who were renters in 2023.

The prevalence of Gen Z renters in DFW has skyrocketed over the last five years; there were only 26,251 DFW-based Gen Z renter households in 2018.

During the same five-year period, the rate of Gen Z homeowners in DFW grew from 2,048 to 25,002 households. But that only represents 11.66 percent of the entire Gen Z population in the Metroplex, RentCafe found.

Unsurprisingly, affordability is one of the biggest hurdles that the younger generation faces when it comes to homeownership. It can be hard to feel optimistic about buying a starter home when even Post Malone's modest childhood home in Grapevine hit the market for more than half a million dollars.

RentCafe adds that metros with good job opportunities (and good pay), recreational activities, and good schools are top-of-mind for Gen Zers that want to settle down in one place.

“And it’s not just the big coastal cities that offer these things,” the report’s author wrote. “While major hubs like New York City and Boston still attract Gen Z renters, the real growth is happening in the South.”

A separate housing affordability report hinted Dallas home prices are starting to cool off after a two-year price surge, which could bring relief to homebuyers of all ages. According to the latest market insight from the MetroTex Association of Realtors, housing prices in Dallas County have dipped 2.8 percent since last February, to $359,695.

Gen Z renter and homeownership rates in other Texas cities
The meteoric rise in Gen Z renters is not just happening in Dallas — every major city in Texas is seeing similar shifts in their renter populations.

Austin has the second-highest share of Gen Z renters in Texas, and it ranked No. 6 among U.S. metros where nearly all Gen Zers are renters. A surprising 91.56 percent of all Gen Z individuals living in the Austin area rent, and only 8.44 percent are homeowners. Out of the total 102,323 Gen Z households living in the metro, 93,687 are renters, while the remaining 8,636 own their homes.

In Houston, 162,305 Gen Z households are renters and 27,093 are homeowners. That means about 86 percent of all Gen Z households rent, and 14 percent own homes.

San Antonio, on the other hand, is home to one of the highest rates of Gen Z homeowners in the state. About 20 percent of Gen Z San Antonians are already homeowners, while the remaining 79.57 percent are renters. That adds up to about 13,862 Gen Z homeowners, and 53,998 renters.

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welcome home

This is the income you need to buy a starter home in Dallas right now

Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash

Dallas and Austin lead the nation for improving starter-home affordability.

A new housing affordability report shows Dallas is among the nation's top metros for improving starter-home affordability. First-time buyers are finally catching a small break, with the income needed to purchase a median-priced starter home falling in 2026.

Dallas residents need to earn $83,096 to afford a median-priced home in the metro area, or 5.1 percent less than they did last year, the Redfin report found.

Dallas had the third-biggest decline in the income needed to afford a starter home out of the 50 U.S. metros analyzed in the report. Redfin also determined that all starter home listings in Dallas are "affordable" based on the city's median household income — which the report estimates at $103,144.

Dallas still has a far higher income required to afford a starter home compared to the national average, but affordability is improving slightly across the board. Americans need to make $70,693 to afford the typical starter home, according to the report's findings.

"The income needed to buy a starter home is declining while earnings are rising," the report said. "The typical American household earns an estimated $87,599, about $17,000 more than what’s needed to buy the median-priced U.S. starter home. That gap is widening: A year ago, the typical American earned roughly $12,500 more than they needed to buy a starter home."

Still, starter home affordability is "still often out of reach" for first-time homebuyers in expensive real estate markets due to "near high record" sale prices and soaring mortgage rates, the study said.

In neighboring Fort Worth, residents only need to make $77,886 to afford a starter home — an attainable milestone based on the city's estimated median household income of $93,102. Fort Worth ranks fourth nationwide for its year-over-year improvement in starter home affordability.

For additional comparison, this is the income needed to afford a starter home in other major Texas metros:

Austin – $92,607 (down 6.1 percent)
Houston – $70,384 (down 4 percent)
San Antonio – $62,859 (down 3.7 percent)

Unfortunately, affording a home in the overall housing market is further straining Americans' wallets. American households need to make just under $110,000 afford the typical U.S. home, but Redfin's evaluation found the typical household makes about $22,000 less than that.

"The discrepancy is partly because the overall market is driven by outsized price increases in the luxury segment, and outsized price increases in places like San Francisco and West Palm Beach, where affluent buyers are active," the report said. "At the same time, some would-be buyers of starter homes are pulling back because they typically earn less money and are more sensitive to affordability pressures."

The top 10 U.S. metros with the biggest declines in the income required to afford the typical starter home are:

No. 1 – Austin, Texas
No. 2 – Oakland, California
No. 3 – Dallas, Texas
No. 4 – Fort Worth, Texas
No. 5 – Denver, Colorado
No. 6 – San Francisco, California
No. 7 – Phoenix, Arizona
No. 8 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 9 – Houston, Texas
No. 10 – Los Angeles, California

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